Bravo, who was formerly a vice president with Starwood CapitalGroup, will lead the firm's regional acquisition efforts. StarwoodCapital Group did not comment on the move. In addition to theAtlanta office, KBS has eight other offices across the country.

Bravo tells GlobeSt.com that the new office is part of thecompany's strategic plan to open offices closer to the markets theyserve. Prior to the opening of the new office, the Southeast washandled through the company's Washington, DC office and SouthFlorida was handled through its New York City office. "KBS hasalways covered the Southeast but with the new office and morepersonnel, hopefully we'll be able to do more deals," Bravosays.

Bravo will lead an aggressive plan to acquireinstitutional-quality commercial assets on behalf of bothinstitutional investors as well as KBS REIT. The Atlanta officewill support southeast acquisition efforts in Florida, Georgia,Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee. In addition, Bravo willoversee the firm's existing $300-million southeast office andindustrial portfolio. KBS completed approximately $2 billionnationwide in acquisition activity during 2007. The company'starget for acquisitions in the Southeast is $250 million to $300million for 2008. "There's no allocation among property types butthe majority will be office and industrial," Bravo says.